Abstract: We reported a case of a patient with gastric stromal tumor who presented with  generalized erythematous desquamation, periorbital edema, and thickened, discolored nail plates after 7 months of treatment with imatinib mesylate. The patient was given oral cyclosporine, and the lesions subsided after 2 weeks. Analysis of 12 cytokines before and after treatment revealed a significant decrease in IL-1β, IL-5, and IFN-γ. Particularly, IL-5 decreased from 1811 pg/mL before treatment to 36.22 pg/mL, suggesting an important role of IL-5 in the adverse reactions induced by imatinib mesylate. This finding suggests that biologics targeting IL-5 may be potential drugs to treat the disease.

Key words: imatinib mesylate, erythrodermic drug eruption, IL-5